21 March,2010, Pacific Ocean
We were warned. It is the year of El Nino, expect lighter winds. It is proving to be so. We have seen nothing above twenty knots since our departure from Galapagos two weeks ago and are now ghosting along at just over 4knots in around 8knots of wind after two days of slow but steady sailing, the twin headsails drawing nicely. But now there is not a cloud in the sky, not a white crest to be seen on this heaving undulating expanse of ocean. From the daily positions given over the net it would appear that everyone is reluctant to use the engine. The boats that stayed further north have had the best wind conditions overall. The Marquesas archipelago has come into view on the right hand edge of our electronic chart but the ETA in the navigational data box below us teases. It recedes day by day, first the 24th, 25th, 26th, 27th.... The boat speed falls below 3knots. Oh, to heck with the racing! Time to deploy that iron sail again.....
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20 March,2010, Pacific Ocean
At 8am we ran finally ran out of patience and wind and fired up the engine. We had been sailing painfully slowly all day and all night. A turtle could have overtaken us, we were that slow! With sails flogging and poles clattering and banging we could stand it no longer. It wasn't good for the boat, or our nerves. Also it had been a terrible strain, for with the lack of wind speed and direction data sailing in light winds makes the task of fine tuning the sails very labour intensive. So for the first time in two weeks the sails were furled away and the engine roared into life. I keep thinking about the effect that the gooseneck barnacles are having on our speed. Last time when we reached Marquesas Stella had grown a beard of these molluscs all around her waterline. Shaped like a fat finger, many were up to three inches in length. The extraordinary feature of these creatures is that they attach themselves only on to a moving hull as opposed to stationary. When the boat stops, they die of their own accord. They are considered to be quite a delicacy. Perhaps I shall commit some to the cooking pot. As we creep nearer our destination, now 690nm away, there are a signs of approaching land. Yesterday I saw my first frigate bird circling high overhead. An albatross came very close to the boat, his huge wingspan outstretched. The ocean itself has revealed nothing more than our daily quota of flying fish and a large pod of dolphins. But there is very much more in its hidden depths for every night as I sit gazing from the confines of the cockpit into its inky blackness I see flashes of phosphorescence, sometimes in the shape of a shark, sometimes a dolphin. The whales however remain as elusive to us as always.
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19 March,2010, Pacific Ocean
At last, at long last we have poled out the twin headsails. During the night the wind backed more easterly taking us south of our rhumb line course. We seized the opportunity of light winds this morning and busied ourselves with the task in hand. The first attempt ended in failure. As soon as we brought Voyageur dead downwind to fill the ballooner, winching in the sheet at the same time and it came floating gently and gracefully down like a butterfly landing on a leaf. The mouse at the top of the furler had not connected. Success was achieved the second time and hola! off we went. So easy when you know how. With any luck we can sail like this for the remainder of the passage to Marquesas, only taking in a reef if the wind increases. Lady Ev still with us through the night, raised their parasailor this morning. Noeluna are at exactly the same longitude as us also but 52nm further north. It will be interesting over the course of the next 24 hours to see the benefits if any, of our morning's labours. At least we are now heading in the right direction.....
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Wishing you continued good sailing.
Pat and Tony P
